


A Wood Carving Star

by Sharyrazade



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ambiguous Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), During Canon, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Gen, Reflection, Self-Hatred, Survivor Guilt, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharyrazade/pseuds/Sharyrazade
Summary: The night before the planned march on Enbarr, Seteth pours his heart out to the one person whom he'd most tried to protect from the terrors of the world. And Flayn learns quite a bit in the process as well.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Seteth/Seteth's Wife (Fire Emblem)
Kudos: 9





	A Wood Carving Star

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not gonna lie to you all; Flayn's dialogue is a little difficult to write for me. Nowhere near as difficult as for Petra, I mean, but then again, I've kinda got my signals crossed a bit. As the title implies, I had someone considerably less...verbose than Flayn in mind when writing this honestly. In fact, he may have been genuinely developmentally disabled, just going off some dialogue about his childhood.

The had taken the village with nary a drop of blood shed for it thankfully, thought Seteth as he patrolled the camp erected outside of the town's limits. For all of his initial distrust of them, their legendary charisma had its uses. Goddess knew he had taken the lives of enough of these children- and children they were to his eyes- in his frantic quest to rescue the second-most important soul to him.

At their insisting, some of the more delicate members of their unit (including a never especially-industrious pink-haired young woman, for some reason) had taken up their quarters inside an inn on the far side of town. Waving aside one of his subordinate knights, Seteth took in the homely, nostalgic smell of the fireplace's burning wood wafting through the cozy lobby. It was almost enough to get even a high-strung man such as him to relax for a bit. But nonetheless, there was something weighing on his mind about which he could not help but be concerned. Truthfully, Seteth had wondered if he was overstepping his bounds, even after he rapped on the door with his knuckles. "Flayn?" he began gently. "Are you asleep?"

The room's old door creaked open, the young woman with the lime-green hair and shimmering eyes dutifully answering. "Ah, Brother! What brings you around at this hour? Are you not tired?"

"Not especially. I just thought it was a lovely night. Would you care for a bit of a stroll?"

"Of course! That sounds lovely."

And the night was just as beautiful as Seteth had described. The bright, shimmering moon and the countless stars overlooking this sleepy little Adrestian town made it seem like something out of a landscape painting- almost as if the war and all its brutality were another world away. As the pair crossed the bridge where the condemned church came into view, Flayn could not help but concur about their stroll's scenery. "My goodness, this is a fine night." she remarked. "The moon and the stars are all so...relaxing like this."

Seteth nodded, pangs of guilt nonetheless stinging his heart for the countless such nights he'd shared with the child's mother. "Indeed it is." he agreed. "But I must ask; are you alright, Flayn?"

Flayn sighed, half in fatigue and frustration. "Yes, Brother, I am." she confirmed. "The Professor dealt with those imperial ruffians quite handily before any harm could come to me."

"I am well aware. It's just..."

Rather absentmindedly, Seteth took a brief walk over toward the balcony in front of the abandoned church and gave a great sigh. Flayn of course, followed quite literally in his footsteps. "I cannot help but be reminded of my worst failure." he continued, his voice cracking slightly. "Even the thought of harm coming to you..."

"Oh, B-Father..." she remarked consolingly. "I joined you and the Professor of my own volition, knowing full well the risk."

"I am also aware of that fact. However, you must keep in mind that the pain of losing one's child- is literally the worst pain imaginable for a parent. I...would not wish such a pain even on a certain Emperor or even Nemesis. While you were asleep, so to speak...every waking hour of my life was pure agony. I cursed myself constantly, not only for allowing that to happen to your mother, but even more for allowing you to come to such harm. Had it not been for Rhea, I-"

Reflexively wrapping her arms around her father's midsection, Flayn held him as tight to her person as possible. "Oh, Father..." she repeated sadly. "Please, I beg you. Despair no longer about the past."

This gesture helping him to regain the composure he generally prided himself upon keeping, Seteth spoke after a respite of a few seconds."You know, I realized something after all this time." said Seteth, scratching at his beard a bit. "After all of her atrocities, even after attempting to abduct you for Goddess-knows-what, there still remained a part of me that could not hate her as I would have liked."

"Why ever would that be?" inquired Flayn, genuinely curious as she released her father. "Did Edelgard remind you of someone?"

Seteth chuckled kindly. "As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, she did remind me of someone."

"Might I ask whom exactly she called to mind?"

"Actually, it was you, Flayn."

The dutiful daughter wore an expression of genuine shock. "Wait, me?"

The usually-stoic old warrior gave a warm smile as he recalled the traits shared by mother and daughter alike. "You, like Edelgard, have an unshakable faith in the capacity of human beings to do wonderful things and that the future will be better. No matter how many obstacles life has placed in your way, you both never once gave up, not even at my urging."

Now that the evidence had been placed in front of her, Flayn could begin to see where exactly he was coming from. However, there was something inexplicably... _off_ about the comparison to her mind. "Emperor,' 'heroine.' That's what her people call her."

Seteth nodded affirmatively. "Yes, but there is a clear difference between you and Edelgard."

Flayn frowned slightly. "Our race?" she inquired, fairly certain of her father's answer.

At this point, Seteth shook his head. "No, not that." he corrected gently. "You realize that you are capable of making mistakes. Or rather, if you make a mistake, you are capable of acknowledging it. That...takes courage. Edelgard, as well as myself, could not do that."

"The courage to acknowledge one's mistakes...?"

Seteth, his default expression not exactly one of levity, grimaced slightly. "In our own ways, I suppose we both gave up on correcting our flawed paths...no matter who would ultimately suffer from our actions."

Flayn felt her heart break for her father at this comparison, her harsh words for him during her time as one of the Professor's students still ringing in her ears. "Oh, Father..." she mourned. "You are nothing like her. Your sternness was born of a genuine concern for my well-being. Nothing like Edelgard and her lust for power. Please, trouble yourself no longer with such thoughts."

"I appreciate your kind words, my dear. Even if I am not entirely convinced. Still, I must see this conflict through- until that day comes when peace returns to Fódlan. Do not die, Flayn."

Stepping away from the balcony, lost in the heady mixture of thoughts and emotions with which the conversation had stirred within him, Seteth abruptly halted. "We must continue to support them fully." he remarked solemnly. "We cannot allow Edelgard to do as she pleases- she is capable of sacrificing any number of lives- including her own- in order to achieve her goals. We must give them our full support to them- to stop Edelgard before Rhea is taken from this world."

With some hint of a determined smile, Flayn nodded her pigtailed head affirmatively. "Of course, Father." she said resolutely. "I wish to protect this world just as much as you do. For the Professor, Rhea, all of our friends...and for Mother, as well."

Most uncharacteristically, Seteth gave a wistful-but-sincere smile. "Live long, my daughter." he implored. "Don't die before I do, Cethleann. My dear, precious daughter."

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: Local literally-ancient DILF deals with his crippling guilt and self-hatred after the death of his wife and apparent death of his child


End file.
